This invention relates to parking systems and particularly to systems for automatic parking facility payment collection, monitoring, and the performance of occupancy-related management functions. This invention also relates to parking systems that integrate automatic text, voice, and picture recognition and response.
The fees charged for allowing vehicles to be parked in a managed parking facility are an important and widespread revenue stream in today's world. The basic components of a parking transaction are: a consumer with a vehicle, a parking facility, and parking facility manager. The parking facility manager generates revenue by allowing a consumer to park their vehicle in the parking facility for an amount of time. The amount of time that a vehicle is parked is variable and will be referred to as a parking period. The parking facility manager incurs expenses in managing the parking facility. Those expenses derive from, but are not limited to, the following parking management events and activities: commencement of the parking period for each vehicle, termination of the parking period for each vehicle, monitoring use of the parking facility, processing payments from consumers, and enforcement actions related to violations of policies governing the use of the parking facility. To improve the profitability of a parking facility, it is highly desirable to reduce the expenses incurred in the management of the parking facility. Therefor, it is an objective of the present invention to provide methods and a system to improve the management of a parking facility and thereby drive reductions in operating expenses.